Lausanne, Switzerland, October 21, 2009 – FIVB President Wei Jizhong stressed FIVB must work with all the continental confederations at the recent-held FIVB Sports Events Council.

The FIVB Sports Events Council led by its President and FIVB 2nd Executive Vice-President Theofanis Tsiokris, successfully completed its annual meeting last week in the Château Les Tourelles.

FIVB President Mr. Wei Jizhong told members of the Council at the meeting which was held on October 12-13 that working with all the Confederations was the new FIVB foundation for development and events and will help Volleyball around the world grow stronger and stronger. "The new FIVB philosophy of working more closely with the Confederations and Federations will also give the FIVB increased transparency and democracy," he said.

"With the help of the Confederation Presidents, we have accomplished many things in this meeting," Mr. Tsiokris added. "We are now looking ahead to an exciting and challenging year which of course features a key competition in the FIVB World Championships."

Key decisions to come out of the meeting included:

• To keep the same competition formula for the very successful biennial FIVB Youth and Junior World Championships,

• To review the world ranking system to ensure that it reflects all team performances more appropriately,

• To review the registration process at age-group tournaments to ensure all regulations are fully implemented,

• To ensure that the safety of the athletes is paramount when arranging the annual events calendar, keeping in mind not to overload the athletes,

• To inform that after 2014, Confederations will take on the responsibility of organising the FIVB World Championships Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.